The next day, early morning.
In the restaurant, Kita looked at the yawning, spiritless blond-haired girl next to her, even her signature ahoge drooping with fatigue, and after holding back for a while, still couldn't help but ask, "Nijika, last night... you didn't get any rest, did you?"
Otherwise, why would she look like she pulled an all-nighter?
Gremlin Ryou, focused on dealing with the fried egg on her plate, calmly responded upon hearing this, "Don't tell me you snuck into someone's room to do bad things."
"Cough! Cough! Cough!", Nijika was drinking porridge, and almost choked when she heard that. After finally recovering, she looked at her with a bit of horror, 'How did Ryou know?'
"Wait a minute, don't tell me I actually guessed right?", Seeing her expression, Gremlin Ryou also lost her composure, 'I was just joking. Could it be Nijika really snuck out?'
The other girls also looked over, some surprised, some excited, some envious.
Seeing the misunderstanding deepen, Nijika quickly waved her hand to refute, "That's not it. I-it was some personal matters…"
She didn't rashly reveal the existence of Kumiko, since she didn't fully understand Kaito's thoughts. Of course, she couldn't decide for him.
After returning to the room with Kumiko last night, Nijika had been looking forward to bonding with her nominal daughter.
But she quickly realized something was off.
As a sword spirit, Kumiko didn't need to rest.
Since she was just born, though she looked like a young high school girl, her mental age was that of a child.
And children always love to play, so she clung to her mama to play games.
Not wanting to disappoint her daughter, Nijika ended up playing with her all night.
They played until the sky began to brighten, and only then did Kumiko contentedly return to daddy's room.
As for Nijika, she finally got a short nap.
But she didn't sleep long, soon it was breakfast time.
At best, she had slept less than an hour. It would be strange if she wasn't sleepy now.
Kaito slowly finished the sakura sushi on his plate, as if he had long expected this situation, "I told you she would bother you… You believe it now, right?"
Nijika pouted with a bitter face and nodded.
"She?", Gremlin Ryou looked suspicious, "I feel like there's some secret between you two that we don't know about…"
"It's not really a secret," Kaito called out, "Kumiko."
The Murakumomaru quietly placed next to him buzzed, a faint white light glowing on its blade.
Next second—
A green-haired girl in a school uniform appeared, landing neatly in an empty seat.
This scene of someone appearing out of nowhere startled everyone. Even Yumiko almost snapped her chopsticks.
"Let me introduce, Kumiko. She is the sword spirit of Murakumomaru."
Everyone here was a close friend, and there were no inn staff around, so Kaito had no intention of hiding it, nor was there a need to.
"Sword spirit?", This term, which sounded very fantastical, lit up the golden eyes of Gremlin Ryou.
'She looks no different from a human, yet she is born of a divine blade?'
For once, she even shared her tamagoyaki on her plate. Using her chopsticks, she picked one up and held it to Kumiko's mouth.
"This, for you."
Kumiko, completely unguarded, opened her mouth and ate it in one bite.
But just then, the seemingly kind Gremlin Ryou reached out her fair little hand and seriously said, "Three thousand yen please. How will you pay?"
Kumiko: "?"
'Are you trying to scam me?'
The newly born little sword girl deeply felt the cruelty of the world.
"No money?", Gremlin Ryou finally bared the fangs of a big bad wolf, "In that case, pay with your body!"
"Come, let me check if your development is normal."
Smack!
At the critical moment, Mama Nijika stepped forward.
A merciless forehead flick successfully stopped Gremlin Ryou from bullying even a just-born child.
Kita was already used to scenes like this.
Although Ryou used to be her admired idol, after getting to know her deeply, that idol filter had long shattered to dust.
Rather than defending Gremlin Ryou, the normie girl was more interested in Kumiko.
Yumiko was no exception, and even Bocchi mustered her courage and curiously moved closer to Kumiko, wondering how she differed from ordinary humans.
Thus, breakfast continued for a long time in such a lively atmosphere.
———
With the Vengeful Spirits no longer a threat, Hoori returned to peace.
In the days that followed, Kaito and his group lived leisurely, taking Kumiko around to play, fishing in the back mountain, digging wild vegetables, soaking in hot springs...
Kumiko also gradually learned a lot of common knowledge about this world from her initial innocence.
Aside from still calling Kaito "daddy" and Nijika "mama," she was no different from a normal teenage girl.
Happy times always pass quickly. The five-day-four-night trip eventually came to an end.
———
[May 5th]
After breakfast, the tour company's shuttle bus was already waiting outside.
The girls packed up their luggage and, together with Kaito, officially boarded the bus home.
.
.
.
After leaving the station and saying goodbye to Nijika and the others, Kaito returned home alone.
Originally, Yumiko had wanted to go with him to spend more time together.
But her parents, who had been on a business trip abroad, returned two days ago and even called her. She really couldn't get away.
He casually hung his coat on the rack, changed into indoor slippers, and before he could even look up, he heard a series of urgent meows.
'Boss, you're finally back, nya!'
Kirara, who had been waiting anxiously, heard the sound and immediately darted out from the bedroom.
Kaito was moved by the cat's enthusiastic attitude. He picked it up and weighed it a bit, 'Hmm, not only didn't it lose weight, it actually got fatter.'
'Looks like in the past few days I was gone, this silly cat has taken good care of itself.'
'Good, now I can be at ease if this happens again.'
"Meow! Meow!"
Kirara licked his face, eyes sparkling.
'Boss, where's my gift?'
'It's rare you went far. Surely you brought a souvenir for your kitty?'
'Like dried fish! Like dried fish! Like dried fish!'
Kaito pondered for a moment.
He had indeed planned to bring back some dried fish for Kirara, but left in a rush and forgot.
But facing the cat's expectant gaze, he really couldn't say no. Thinking for a bit, he lectured, "Offering favors without reason means ill intent."
"Someone who feeds you dried fish for no reason must be up to something. They might want to trick you into working at a cat café as the top girl, selling your body to live. One cat stick per service, no dignity at all."
"Although I didn't bring you dried fish, this proves that I truly have no ulterior motives and genuinely care about you."
Kirara blinked, as if asking, 'How much dignity does a few sticks of dried fish cost?'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y